Saturday, February 07, 2015

Drs. Michael and Rebecca Tarver: A Serious Threat to Children? I think so!

The latest report out of Ocala, Florida reveals some of the dangerous practices taking place inside Churchill Dentistry, formerly known as Polliwog Dentistry. I can’t believe there haven’t been a host of dead children due to these two quacks.

Here are a few items pulled from the latest article:

"…Churchill Dental billed Medicaid and the Medicaid recipient for the same service and also delegated their duties to dental assistants who sedated patients,"

“…Tarver would tell parents that he had to apply the sealant to the patient's teeth and Medicaid doesn't reimburse him for the procedure.”

“…Tarver would use a dental tool called a gold flame bur on the top of the child's teeth where natural grooves and cracks were present and would remove "pieces of healthy tooth…Tarver would then fill the space with a resin composite and bill Medicaid as if he had "filled a one- to two-surface cavity. Parents would later complain because they had received a bill from Medicaid, which charges recipients $25 per tooth for each resin filling, though Tarver had told them their children had no cavities.”

“…both dentists would sedate every patient with hydroxyzine, which is used as a sedative to treat anxiety and tension, and with other medications for anesthesia..dental assistants would weigh patients and report the weight to one of the two dentists, and then one of them would say how many milligrams to administer…sometimes 12 to 15 children were being sedated. The average number, she said, was 10. For most kids, blood pressure and oxygen levels were not checked during sedation, the former office manager said, yet all their charts reflect blood pressure and oxygen readings that were "almost the same."

“…Those who didn't respond to hydroxyzine were given Versed, a brand version of midazolam, used to "produce sleepiness or drowsiness and to relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures," the report states. Dr. Michael Tarver would inject it into the child's mouth.”

“…the dental assistant — estimated that the office would treat 60 patients a day. It was open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday with only the two dentists.”